Coin-controlled apparatus.



J. T. BEECHLYN.

com coNTRoLLED APPARATUS.

APPLICATION FILED NOV. 4, |912.

Patented Mar. 21, 1916.

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1 Inventor John T Beech lyn, by

His Attorney.

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`sin` ra'tENT or JOHN T.- BEEGHLYN, 0F LYNN, MASSCHUETTS, .ASSIGNOR '.lO GENERAL ELECTRIC COMPANY, "COBPOBATION 0F NEW YORK.

COIN-GONTMLLED APPARATUS.

specification of Letters Patent.

Patenten nar. ai, raie.

Application led ovember 4,1919. derlei No. 729,254.

'trolled mechanism and more especially to coinicontrolled mechanism adapted for use in connection with power devices, whereby the latter maybe started on the insertion of a coin, and automatically stopped after a predetermined amount of work has been performed.

' '.lhe object of the invention is to provide an improved device of this character which shall be of compact and hardy construction, positive in operation, and of low cost to manufacture. V

My invention is adapted for use in connection with a variety of power devices, although for the purposes of this application, 1 have shown and described it in connection with an ordinary fan motor only.

Referring to the accompanying drawing Figure l is a plan view with parts in section of my coin controlled device; Fig. 2 is a vertical section thereof; Fig. 3 is a detached plan of certain parts in different relation to that occupied by them in Fig. l; Fig. f1 is a side elevation of a fan motor with my coin controlled apparatus applied thereto; and Fig. 5 is an enlarged view showing the relation of the crown escapement pawl to the ratchet disk.

The frame of the device consists of a cast metal box 1, which may be an integral extension of the motor casing, having a cover 2, and at one side a recess for telescopically receiving the coin box 3 which is provided with-ears 4c opposite an ear 5 at the lower end of the box 1`for the reception of a locking device 6 in the form of a padlock. The rear end of the armature shaft 7 of the motor has' a worm 8 thereon in mesh with a worm wheel 9 on a shaft 10 supported in bearings 11 and 12 in opposite ends ofya sheet metal frame 13 secured to the back of the box 1 by screws l14. The shaft 10 is angles to the shaft 10. On the shaft 17 is a worm 18 which meshes with a third worm wheel 19 mounted on an axially movable shaft 20. At the inner end of the shaft 20 is a head 21 formed into a crown escape- -ment Vpawl having a single notch 22 and designed to engage a ratchet disk 4:1 to be hereinafter referred to. The shaft 20 is provided with a helical spring 23 operating to yieldingly hold the crown pawl in engagement with its ratchet disk. It will thus be seen that the crown pawl is so connected through the train of gears to the armature shaft of the motor as to make one revolution for every hundred thousand or otherinsulation 26 to the front end ofthe sheetV metal frame 13 and having provisions at 27 for connectingto the severed ends of a conductor wire of the motor, so that when the contacts 24 and 25 are separated the circuit through the motor will be broken, and closed when they are brought together. To enable these contacts to be operated, they are each provided nearits free end with an insulating block 28 carrying a vertical peg 29.

The mechanism for controlling the admission and deposit of a coin consists of a coin chute in the form of a flattened sheet metal bushing 30, having an opening to iit the coin designed to be used, and extended through the cover 2 of the frame near one edge thereof. The lower outer edge of the bushing 30 is provided with a horizontal ledge 31 for preventing a coin of the right size from dropping through until it has been moved tol the rear end 32 of the ledge. The rear\-wall of the bushing is cut away on the arc of a circle, as indlcated by dotted line 33, Fig. 2, so that when the coin 34 rests upon the ledge 31 it may readily pass transversely out of the chute. Di-

rectly beneath the bushing 30, an opening 36 is made in the Hoor of the box, so that a coin may drop freely into the receptacle 3,

' and in order to prevent a coin from lodging beyond the opening 36 a vertical partition 37 is located at the rear side thereof The means for controlling the posltion of a coin and setting the device in operation consists of a hand knob 38 having a shaft 39 extending vertically through a bearing in the cover 2 and carrying at lts inner end a sheet metal plate40 rigidly xed thereon and a sheet metal ratchet disk 41 loosely journaled thereon. The cam plate 40 has approximately 180 degrees of its periphery of short radius, so that it w11l not interfere with the crown pawl 21. About 90 degrees of the remaining periphery 1s at a longer radius and extends into a transverse slot cut in an edge of the bushing 30 so that a proper sized com 34 will normally be prevented from passing, as indicated in full lines 1n Fi 2. The remaining portion of the perip ery is made irregular to form a cam 42 adapted to engage the stud 29 of contact 25 when moved into the position shown in Fig.

3, and its leading end is cut olf abruptly on a radius and extended into a notch 43 suiiiciently deep to permit a coin to passfreely through when it is' brought adjacent the bushing 30. The ratchet dlsk 41 is provided i slde of the ox 1 and to a pin 48 projecting upwardly from the plate, and ratchet disk 41 is correspondingly biased by a spring 49 connected to the box and to a pin 50 extending upwardly from the disk, and through an arced slot 51 in the plate 40. The knob 38 is provided with two stop pins 51, 52 adapted to engage a stop peg 53 projecting upwardly from the upper surface of the box cover 2.

With the parts in the position indicated in Fig. 1 and upon inserting a coin in the bushing 30 .it will rest upon the larger circular periphery of the cam plate 40, then turning the knob 38 clockwise, the cam plate 40 moves forward until the notch at 43 permits the coin 34 to descend until arrested by the detector ledge 31 where it is arrested directly opposite ratchet disk 41 and in a slot 44 thereof, and upon a continued movement of the knob, the radial shoulder 54 of the plate engages the side of the coin, as shown in Fig. 3, so that the coin then operates asa locking means between the plate 40 and ratchet disk 41, and upon still further movement of the knob 38 the ratchet disk is moved the distance of one ratchet tooth 45 lpushing back the crown pawl 21 until itslips over and engages a ratchet tooth 45. As the cam plate 40, through its coin connection with the ratchet disk 41, moves the latter, the contact 25 is forced outwardly by the cam 42 sufficiently far to prevent engagement therewith by the contact 24, although the latter is also moved from its innermost position to its normal operating position by the cam 46 of the ratchet disk, as indicated in Fig. 3, so that the motor circuit is not completed until the cam plate has been allowed to move backwardly suiciently to withdraw its cam 42 from engagement with the contact 25. This necessarily eiectsa release on the coin which drops into the receptacle 3. This retractive movement of the cam plate prior to the closing of the electric circuit prevents the fraudulent withdrawal of a coin or slug. Any number of coins up to ve in the device shown may be inserted in sequence at one time, each enabling the ratchet disk to be moved forward one tooth, and the coin slots 44 are positioned relative to the ratchet teeth 45 to permit such series of insertions. It will be noted, however, that the coin slots 44 are twice as frequent in spacing as the teeth45, and this is for the purpose of enabling a coin to be inserted whether the crown pawl be in a position to engage a ratchet tooth on its outer periphery, as shown in Fig. 2, or on its opposlte inner periphery, as shown in.

Fig. 3. When the pawl engages the ratchet teeth on its outer periphery, the `coins will enter the odd numbered slots,- and when in the position, shown in Fig. 3, the coins will enter the even numbered slots. Upon retraction of the cam plate to the position shown in'Fig. 1 and with the ratchet disk advanced as shown in Fig. 3, the contacts 24,

-25 will be in engagementand theelectric circuit completed` through the motor. The crown pawl 21 is constantly rotated at a mere fraction of the speed of the motor shaft and its slot 22 finally brought opposite a ratchet tooth, so that the ratchet disk escapes` under the tension of its spring 49, half a I tooth space, where it is arrested by a tooth 45 coming in contact with the inner periphery of the crown, as shown i-n Fig. 5, and upon completion of the revolution of the crown pawl, the ratchet disk is again released for half a tooth space. In case but one coin has been inserted, this second half step brings the ratchet plate to the position shown in Fig. 1 with the peg 29 of contact 24 resting in the slot 46 and the contacts separated, but in case several coins have been inserted the crown pawl will make an equal number what I claim asl 'new and desire to secure by Letters Patent of the United States.

l. In a prepayment motor the .combination of a manually operated late, arratchet disk parallel to said plate, sai plate and disk having provisions whereby they may be locked together by a coin, a motor circuit interrupter in operative engagement with said ratchet disk, and an escapement pawl for said disk directly actuated by the motor.

2. In a prepayment motor, the combination of a`rotary plate biased to turn in one direction, a ratchet'disk parallel to said plate, said disk and plate havlng provisions whereby they may be locked together by a coin, a motor circuit interrupter in operative engagement with said disk and said plate, and

an escapement pawl for normally holding said disk, actuated by the motor to release the same.

3. In a prepayment motor, the combination of a rotary plate, a ratchet disk adjacent said plate, said plate and disk having provisions whereby they may be locked together by a coin, a motor circuit interrupter comprising coperating parts actuated .respectively by said plate land said disk to effect closure of the circuit, and an escapement pawl for normally holding said disk, y actuated by the motor to release the same.

4. In a prepayment motor, the combination of a rotary plate provided with a peripheral notch, a ratchet disk biased to turn in one direction provided with a cam and one or more coin slots, means for introducing a coin into a" slot of said disk, a circuit interrupter in engagement with the periphery of said disk, and an escapement pawl for normally holding said disk from backward movement actuated, by the motor to release said disk.

5. In a prepayment motor, the combination cfa manually operated plate, a disk parallel to said plate biased to move in one direction and provided with ratchet teeth, saidplate and said disk having provisions f whereby they may be locked together by a coin, a circuit interrupter in operative engagement with said disk, and 'an axially yieldingycrown escapement awl engaging said ratchet teeth and direct y and continuously rotated by the motor.

In a prepayment motor the combination of a manually operated plate, a disk parallel to said plate and providedl` with spaced ratchet teeth, said plate biased to move in one direction and said disk having`` provisions whereby they may be locked toing a diameter approximately one and a` half times the spacing of said ratchet teeth and rotated by the motor.

7 lIn a coin controlled device, the combination of a coin chute, a detector ledge located adjacent said chute, a plate rotatably intersecting said chute, a power controlling disk parallel to said plate biased to turn in one direction, and provisions wherebya coin may lock said plate to said disk until said coin is moved beyond said ledge, and for preventing the turning on of power until said coin has thereafter been released by reverse movement of said plate.

8. In a coin controlled device, the combination of a coin chute, a detector ledge located transversely at the inner end of said chute, a plate rotatably intersecting said.

1 cated adjacent said chute, a rotary plate having a peripheral segment normally intersecting said chute, there being a slot and a coin engaging shoulder at the rear end of said segment, and a power controlling disk mounted coaxially with said plate and provided with one or more coin slots normally closed by the peripheral segment of said plate.

10. In a coin controlled device, the combination of a coin chute, a detector ledge 1ocated adjacent said chute, a power clrcuit interrupter, a disk in operative relation to said interrupter biased to move in one direction and having a notched eriphery intersecting said chute transverse y, a rotary plate mounted arallel to said disk and having a periphera segment normally projecting beyond the notched portions of said disk, Iand JOHN T. BEECHLYN.

Witnesses: l

JOHN A. MoMANUs, Jr., FRANK G. Hamm. 

